Season One, Episode Nineteen, "Kids" - They Grow Up So Fast

At a swimming and diving meet, one of the judges collapses and is shown to be bleeding from one ear. His lumbar puncture indicated a virulent strain of bacterial meningitis. House arrives at the hospital, which is dealing with the outbreak could have affected 2500 people at the pool. Cuddy insists that House help out. House comes across a 12 year old diver. She has a fever and a rash that she says she’s had for a week. Despite the symptoms, he doesn‘t think she has meningitis. Cuddy agrees to give them an hour to work on the diver. Although her latest tests show her red blood cells are intact, House orders Chase to check her blood. House realizes one cause of the disorder is unlikely, but possible. House goes to tell the patient she's pregnant. The pregnancy is causing her blood to clot and be shredded by the clot - a rare complication. She admits she experimented with intercourse. He tells her they have to terminate the pregnancy and treat her blood for antibodies. 

House interviews candidates for the fellowship but dismisses them all.  House goes back to Cameron and tells her he wants her to come back. She says that's not good enough. She says he has to take her out on a dinner date. House agrees. 


medicomical relief time! The epidemic creates enough chaos so that house gets thrown off center, which makes his scrambling all the more fun—and, yeah, that he is forced to consider the consequences of his actions. Cuddy: “you want those nurses and dr’s we had to let go? You’re the one that cost this hosp. $100 million”—like they had no budget before this? still and all, how big an ego does it take to carry that weight?

Back to the comedical. The dismissal of the interviewees is abs. classic. “you want to be a non-conformist? Get a haircut and a pocket protector like him (Wilson). Like the Asian kids who don’t leave the library for 20 hr stretches. They don’t care what you think.” Then the Jewish superwoman: from Wilson: “THAT’S OUR HITLER!” His “Producers” quote floored me. I laughed. Out loud. Maybe twice. It actually gave me hope that I will last the run.

Oh, and tell me now? Why do you like chase, even though he is the one who ratted out house? Love is blind but Lust isn’t?


I don't exactly lust over Chase. Just sometimes his sheer cuteness gets to me. I've never had fantasies about him. Sort of like House saying about Cameron that she's like a nice part of art (paraphrase).

is he referring to her degas-like quality of waif-i-ness? 

I haven't had direct sexual fantasies about any of the men in that show, although I like it when they take their shirts off. 

 haven't seen that happen yet. when does cameron?

Don't you think you should take a break? Even I did! Although I watched a DVD at a time, which was about 4 episodes at a stretch.

Season One, Episode Eighteen, "Babies And Bathwater"

First aired on May 10, 2005. Naomi, who is 28 weeks pregnant, suddenly collapses. She is 39 and has miscarried three times. Finally, the dispute between them comes down to a showdown before the Board and Wilson gets caught in the crossfire. Naomi has small-cell lung cancer which requires radiation and a C-section first and the patient refuses that wanting to carry the baby longer to give the baby a better chance. Later she gets "an embolism. A blood clot." and she dies but they save the baby. Wilson is fired because of his support for House; Cuddy has to decide whether to risk her own career.
This is the last episode to feature Edward Vogler in the series, making this episode the last one of the "Vogler arc". 

come Nineveh, come tyre…or as Colbert would say: THE THREATDOWN! Here we are at the crunch—D-Day! Now, I know all the other “house-that-again?” freaks are going to take this in stride--like the board is going to dismiss Wilson in a naked power play? Jumpin’ Jee-Hosni-fat! Why didn’t they just give vogler a rubber stamp when he came in? I was under the assumption that he was given the post of chair by acclimation, not because he bought it.

V: “a man is the sum of his actions…this man is a disgrace to this hospital.” Like nobody there can ADD UP, either? how many f*ing lives he and his ducklings have saved? (the basic plot does bring the metaphor to the fore—hence the title.

But it seems even more ridiculous that vogler would interpose in a surgical matter. C’mon! Suffice it to say, if this is characteristic of their idea of story arcs, I don’t see how I’m going to last for five seasons.)

Fave moment: the two ducks at the door—foreman: “coward!” chase: “child!” …that and the song at the end, Wilco?

House Triple Play Day! Darth Vogler X 3

House, Triple Play Day

s1 ep 15, Mob Rules

Plot: A judge orders House to treat a mob informant. House does so under protest, but even when the patient recovers, he figures something is wrong with him and wants to keep treating him. When he butts heads with Vogler over the treatment of the patient, Vogler spends two days fighting with Cuddy over House's continued employment, resulting in Cuddy having to make a terrible compromise in order to keep House at the hospital. Meanwhile, House figures out someone on his team is keeping Vogler informed and takes steps to try to confirm who it is. 

you’ve got “Vogler the enforcer” and a federal witness in here; perfect fit. But there is no way a mob-connected atty is going to have that much access to the witness, even if it is his brother. I mean, are these writers only basing this script on what they've seen in “the godfather part 2”? (I couldn’t never figure how tom hagen got to frank in that army base lock-up. Did anyone ever explain that?!?!)

I know I promised to throw away all criticality w/r/t the ducklings but this violates my code of ethical detachment from existential living on the 21st century planet earth. And—yeah—I liked the corvette, like anybody else. But would the government keep him on the case with an obvious bribe sitting in his driveway? Oh yeah, and the IRS? Credulity can only stand so much strain…

s1 ep 16, Heavy 

 Plot: A morbidly obese 10 year old girl has a heart attack. House is intrigued, but the obvious cause of her problems seems to be her weight, and Chase won‘t stop mentioning it. Can the team look through her appearance to see the real cause? 
House is trying to deal with a conundrum. On Vogler's orders (backed by Cuddy), to make his department profitable, he has to fire one of his three staff members. House tries to stall for a few months, but Cuddy tells him he has a week.


now Darth Vogler ups the ante.
Cameron: “why are you telling me all this? Because you feel guilty?”
 V: “I don’t feel guilty. But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel sad. I may be rich, but I’m human.”

FINE DISTINCTION. Isn’t “sad” when we are resigned to things over which we have no control? I distinguish this from depression, another animal entirely. Depression is rage/anger turned inward—usually over powerlessness and helplessness.) So why aren’t these Dr.’s smart enough to know they’re being manipulated? I mean, HAVEN’T THEY EVER HEARD OF MEPHISTOPHELES? DON’T THEY KNOW WHAT A FAUSTIAN BARGAIN IS?

Upper photo: Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) Below: Edward Vogler (Chi McBride)

s1 ep 17, Role Model

When a politician friend of Vogler’s collapses at a rally, he demands House at least examine the man. House soon takes an interest in the case, but his conclusions seem to end any chance the patient has of pursuing his political career. In addition, Vogler’s demands on House increase to the point where he wants House to shill for his new pharmaceutical. 
House goes to give his speech, with Vogler depending on House's reputation and integrity to sway the audience. He starts on script, but ends after one paragraph. When Vogler threatens his fellows unless he completes his speech, he goes back to the podium and just tells the audience that the new drug is good because is just the old good drug, only a lot more expensive and under a new patent. He also says that Vogler's company merely fools around with existing drugs to make them slightly different so they will get a new patent. Cuddy and Wilson are mortified. Vogler is stunned. House leaves the stage.
Cameron goes to see House. She agrees to resign so he won't have to fire her or Foreman. House asks why and she says it is to protect herself. She admits she likes him despite his faults because she thought he liked to help people, but she has now realized that he does what he does because he always wants to do the right thing. She thinks that the only way she can do the right thing is to quit.

this was how many years before Obama? (The politician is black.  He does not think he can win, but he is paving the way for future black candidates) not looking for a prediction, just a comparison. 2005?

OK. So, subplot is the blackmail for the drug endorsement. Uh—what? Like the medical establishment is going to believe this? Vogler owns the hospital and the drug company, and house is a known iconoclast offender, and NOBODY’S going to see the--- oh I give up!

(ok. no, i don't.)

Season 1, Episode 14: "Control"

 Plot: A young, high powered CEO of a cosmetic company starts to suffer intense pain. House quickly diagnoses the problem, but realizes revealing the truth about it will mean the patient’s certain death. Instead, he risks his own career to hide the truth and get her the treatment she needs. During all this, Princeton-Plainsboro takes on a rich new chairman of the board who has just offered a $100,000,000 donation. He immediately sees House as dead weight and decides to infiltrate House’s team to get ammunition against him.


another comedical! this is more like it! w/big bizness metaphor! re: Cameron’s method of getting agreement from the other two. house: "did you just read 'the one-minute manager" on soft-position bargaining? it isn't going to work." now house has a libido? OK, help me out on this one: Vicodin? it doesn't suppress the sex drive? (like i would know?) so this is the "vogler" arc? biggie smalls as billionaire. well, the name is...

A BIT O' MALE TRIVIA: in comics, in titles like The Justice League of America and The Avengers and The Defenders and The X-Men (basically any team) every couple years will come out with a Fall or New Year's issue entitled: The Old Order Changeth, or something equally pseudo-latin pretentious. see, they figure the suits have gotten stale and need some new spandex and soap opera to jazz it up. also, a new mission or quest or adventure-to-save-the-world/universe/dimension/reality AND A NEW VILLAIN!

arch-enemies are so groovy, it was about time sherlock house met a match. and this one IS good--that is BAAAD: soft-spoken menace like a thug in an elevator holding a razor to yr ear while he coos in yr ear.

...the name is perfect: germanic and tyrannical too! i mean, is house going to call him "Mein Herr"?

as for the rest? I’m going to check on the polite dissent for the whole thing about the use of emetics (if that is what epicac is) ruining yr heart. if so, i am surprised it hasn't been mentioned in ads aiming at teenage girls who are trying to be waifs. but the whole thing about the hosp. being given up to clinical trials? don't they all do that? seems like no big deal, but i guess it can become one. (like the plotline of ford's "the fugitive" remake.)

PS: ...or even better "MEIN FUHRER!" like Dr. Strangelove!

Given up to clinical trials?  I'm not sure what you mean.  It's a teaching hospital, so I'm guessing they would have clinical trials.  In Season 5 a clinical trial figures prominently, although not for House.

I almost never go to Polite Dissent, because I know half the medicine is twisted around for story purposes.  (Like the doctors doing everything themselves.  At a wedding in the ladies' room, I met a nurse whose job is preparing the slides for doctors...the actual job takes two days, and that's before they see the slides.  But having that in there would be like watching paint dry.  That's why it's "show biz."

Hahaaah!

House enjoys tormenting Jewish people, making Holocaust jokes and such.  In one episode he upbraids Wilson for using a lame excuse for speeding:

"You lost control of your speed?  That's like Hitler saying, I lost track of the Jews!"

More "Control"

Yeah, he has a libido, he goes to hookers. Unless it's the Flying Nun, I don't think you can have an asexual lead character. Oh, and aliens. Unless they kill their victims after they have sex.

aha. more2B, huh? and only the mantis people of wolfrilla kill after mating. Then, low-tar cigarettes.

Season 1, Episode 13, "Cursed": Hugh Laurie's Audition video

A Ouija board tells a young boy he will die, and he soon comes down with a serious illness. As his father is a major donor to the hospital, he insists on the best they have and Cuddy presses House to take the case. As they work through the possible solutions, House wonders why the father is so familiar with certain rare diseases. Meanwhile, a visitor to the hospital allows House to put Chase under the microscope.It's a very mobile nose. <"made a phone call" is in the pilot. I think Foreman says it. Speaking of obsessed, there is a community of people who--wait for it--TRANSCRIBE every episode! Do NOT get into an argument with one of these people.

what i like is how, for at least one ep, is has (d)evolved into General Hospital! kindly dr. greg actually takes an interest in the world around him! there is no mention here of the "phone call" that Chase Sr. did to get Chase Jr on the team, that you mentioned earlier. but it IS weird how Chase Sr. is drawn in by House to, apparently, rub Chase Jr's nose in it...(which you say is already up house's butt, so then approximately where is his nose in this ep???)  well, yes, transparent and obvious that the whole bonding thing Chase does with the kid is supposed to be a reflection of the two dads as well...and, well, like i said up top: General Hospital.

big yock: Wilson: "even I don't like you" [exit] House: [shouting after] "hey! words can hurt!"

So, now Wilson is supposed to be a skirt-chaser? you did say something about him seeking to "ship" with moist earth. though. i dunno, tho'. thing about rakes are that they are incredibly self-centered, right? the whole ego + conqueror thang? i mean, sure, there are guys who are just seeking to get their rocks off, granted. but to become a head of oncology? don't you have to have more of an alpha male aspect than Wilson has exhibited? of course, i can gather that is forthcoming.

P.S. Took me a while to figure out how to get to the page but found Polite Dissent extremely fine. so far i think i have seen at least two anaphylactic seizures and missed the cues!

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I don't much care for this episode, except for House tormenting Chase about his dad and the father/son rivalry. As for where Chase's nose is...it's a very mobile nose.

"made a phone call" is in the pilot. I think Foreman says it. Speaking of obsessed, there is a community of people who--wait for it--TRANSCRIBE every episode! Do NOT get into an argument with one of these people.

"Shipping" is not horniness...it is True Love and Real Romance.

Wilson is SO not alpha! I was baffled for a long time by Wilson being the head of oncology. Honestly, I don't know how to answer these questions. It's outside my area of expertise.

BTW, when Hugh Laurie got the script, he thought the part of House was the sidekick; he couldn't imagine a show built around this character. He figured the "boyishly handsome oncologist" would be the lead.

The reason his character looks the way he does is because HL was filming "Flight of the Phoenix" in Africa. He did his audition in a hotel bathroom in Namibia. For the film his hair [s uncut and he is scruffy since his character was marooned in the desert. So the powers that be went for that look. They had been casting for ages for an actor. Apparently one of the creators of the show said, when he saw the tape, "At last! An American actor!"



Hugh Laurie apologizes for his appearance at the beginning, then you hear the recording beep and off they go.

Season One, Episode 12, "Sports Medicine" Monster Trucks In 3 Parts

(This exchange took place on February 2, 2011)

Part One

this one is pretty shabby--as in threadbare; like all the stitching's showing through. [pretty good metaphor, eh? "tailored to fit" someone for whom such things are meat-&-starch...] 

this stuff about the intimate lives is so contrived. the pharma rep x-ing foreman esp., but no less than the phony curiosity built up about house's big deal. so here, you have faux jealousy in the "Hilson ship" [did i use the shorthand correctly?] over Wilson going out w/someone else instead of to the monster truck show w/House. this is so OOC [MY shorthand for Out-Of-Character] you know the writer just stuck it in to give him blue-collar creds. i don't mind being catered to, and manipulated (as said somewhere else previous in this dizzy chainmail) but i resent it being done badly. 

what bothers me most (and prob. nobody else in the House house) is that, when the pitcher tries to off himself w/coach's digitalis, our boy explains: "next time take the whole bottle. people remember how many they have; date's on the bottle, number of pills. a regular person can do the math. NOW A JUNKIE DOESN'T HAVE TO. HE KNOWS HOW MANY HE HAS LEFT. IT'S ALL HE THINKS ABOUT." the all-caps is my emphasis to point out JUST WHAT I SAID ABOUT "DETOX"! 

[this puts me to mind of discussions i have had with other writers. editors and proofreaders, how skimping on the proof is one of the things that really brings down the quality of communications these days. but this is waay too digressive.] the only thing that gives it verisimilitude, for moi, is the couple of "hate yankees" asides. 

it fits for house to be THAT blue-collar, as i, myself, will participate in the discussion of local team affairs with my co-workers, if only to show that i am not unaware of events outside of my peculiar interests. but the monster truck thing? i want to punch somebody... 

####################################################################

Wow. You'd better get used to it, House and Wilson love monster trucks. Funny, I've never had a problem with that, but maybe a guy can see the inherent contradiction therein. Yes, the Foreman/drug rep story was lame, lame, lame. I guess you could call the drug rep. story one of those "world-famous doctor" moments that pop up from time to time. Doesn't make it any less lame. The dinner with the lawyer is what is known as "foreshadowing," although I won't say why. Later you'll see why that isn't lame. 


Definitely one of the lesser episodes. Oh, and after "Cursed" (which I can't remember at all except an amazing close-up of Chase looking down out of a window that practically killed me) is the episode that starts the "Vogler" arc, which is amazing in its own way. I look forward to ranting to follow.

Chase in "Cursed"...what were we talking about, again?

What I meant about Chase looking out for Chase is, that by kissing House's ass, Chase thinks that's how he can keep his job. More will be revealed.  Curiosity: why is a game boy less blue collar than monster trucks? 


because monster trucks are an offshoot of NASCAR-type events--those held at raceways and suburban arenas. as well, as you could see from the parking lot/carny/tailgate party atmosphere (remember house wearing a gimme cap and eating cotton candy?), this much more associated with festival arenas/cow palaces. 

a gameboy is something you can play on the subway, making it NOT EXCLUSIVELY an urban/geek thing but approximately one. the urban analog would be an interest in WWF (or whatever wresting soaps are called after the world wildlife fund lawsuit). this is what the boys trade insults and exemplars upon: the knowledge of the trivia (such as the meaning of the dates tattooed on the flesh of stone cold steve austin) is equivalent to baseball stat fiends. (ask your husband about that.)

Part Two


To continue the discussion, Jeff is an urbanite and he likes...NASCAR. It's a recent thing and he knows better than to even broach the subject of attending one of those things. And he has to watch it when I'm not around, or I start shrieking with outrage. I freak out over the trailer trashness of it all. And House does like wrestling, although it's only come up in an episode or two. 

I suspect the writers are trying to make him know everything about pop culture everything, if you know what I mean. And Jeff's a soft-spoken intellectual type therapist. I can understand his obsession with baseball and to a lesser extent, his interest in football (not hockey, thank God), but NASCAR? I don't get it. Maybe that's why the monster trucks thing doesn't bother me. 

it's like I said. male identification with sub-groups of these genres gives us the cachet of participating in the brotherhood of good-ole-boy nation w/o having to suffer the attendant miseries OF being trailer-park trash, or rickets, or working crushingly-dull double-shifts to pay off the loan on our pickup with the Easy-Rider Rifle Rack in the back window, or breeding through two or three divorces, or having an engorged liver, or believing that the South was right and slaves were soldiers in the confederacy, or that heroes are best made from grass-roots and not in board offices... 

yes, I know a predominance of the examples may make it sound exclusively antediluvian, post-colonial but I'm sure you understand that the spread of the Klan to skokie, IL was not a random phenom. it all comes down to this: IF YOU HAVE THE T-SHIRT/GIMME CAP AND TALK THE LINGO you will never be accused of being a member of the communist party OR effete core of impudent snobs OR a fag.  It's a pseudo-macho thang.
 
Part Three (for which this is a section missing, sorry)


<our boy explains: "next time take the whole bottle. people remember how many they have; date's on the bottle, number of pills. a regular person can do the math. NOW A JUNKIE DOESN'T HAVE TO. HE KNOWS HOW MANY HE HAS LEFT. IT'S ALL HE THINKS ABOUT." the all-caps is my emphasis to point out JUST WHAT I SAID ABOUT "DETOX"!  >

I'm not sure I get your meaning. House is talking about himself; he always knows how many pills he has and how many bottles. Explain. 

no. he doesn't. read my remarks on the detox ep. 

Put the question to a fellow (sane) fan, and her response was this: House is a mass of contradictions. It depends on who wrote the episode in question and which season it is and how much crack the producers had been smoking at the time. 

It almost goes without saying that this person, like me, is a long-time fan who's having a hard time with the show as it stands. The crack pipe is going 24/7 these days. Also, if you can avoid framing things through the prism of the House/Wilson relationship, the show as a whole makes more sense. I might have written you this before, but House/Wilson was originally Holmes/Watson, HOWEVER it became evident early on that the "Watson" in question was really the team, not Wilson. 

Robert Sean Leonard, who plays Wilson, has said repeatedly that he enjoys being a background character who says things like, "There's no egg salad" and then splits. 

"There's no egg salad. Can I leave now?"

Season One, Episode 11, "Detox" - Added Monkey With A Dildo

While trying to figure out why a young patient (Nicholas D'Agosto) will not stop bleeding after a car wreck, House accepts Cuddy's challenge and goes off Vicodin for a week in exchange for no clinic duty for a month. As House's withdrawal symptoms become severe, his methodology for his patient are more harsh and risky, and Foreman and Cameron are afraid he may not be thinking clearly enough in order to save the patient's life. 

& about time too! is this the 1st time addiction gets mentioned? why now? because the Vicodin is late? how is it he doesn't keep a stash in his office for emergencies? or would that be too much of an admission of an addict personality trait? YEAH? LIKE HE ISN'T ADDICTED TO TV AND MEDICINE? well, ok--the latter is harmless and (as discussed previously) more of a substitute for passion, while the latter is..
. 
"pills don't make me high. they make me neutral." 

 this is a hard argument to fight. the rest of the ep is devoted to him going cold turkey and trying to save another life/solve another puzzle. You are forced to wonder that, IF he had his meds, he would have gotten to the solution earlier. but that is unlikely: the patient history missed the pet, and as foreman said at the outset: "can't be environmental factors. the father had a team come in and test. replaced everything with hypoallergenic bedding too." 

(actually having a mold case here at the law office wherein the plaintiff is accusing the first "remediators" of doing such a poor job that they missed a major part of the infestation and made them sick all over again. so i can see a major lawsuit vs. the ones who did the job on the show.) 

as usual, it is the last bit of casually tossed-off info that breaks the case. but that doesn't negate his argument. when cuddy ("that's double what you were taking when i hired you") and then wilson ("remember? i was there! i know!") allude to watershed moments--she to the actual risk she decided was worth it; he to some precipitous event, either the thrombosis(?) or something equally catastrophic that made him the bitter cynic he is--neither, at either end of this "intervention" (of sorts) really address this issue: neutrality. 

the pills ARE NOT destroying his life. they may be part and parcel of damaging his view of the human race, but that's something we all struggle with--"let he who is without sin," etc. there were mentions of other treatments, palliative care is the term i believe, and he dismissed these outright. and why? 

probably because they would have meant an interruption to the one thing that drives his existence. and PURPOSE is also a drug. give a man a dose and he can move mountains, topple regimes. if palliative care DID NOT interfere with his work, he'd probably opt for it. 

you know, it just struck me the other day, the reason why "House" is so great for you, may have to do with all the time you've spent under physician's care. i listen to the terminology and realize that i am going to have to spend more time at that polite dissent site. i lack basic vocabulary. but i digress... i remember that one pharmoneuro(cologist?) you had who was reading your mood swings like flowcharts. Must've felt like housarbeit. 

AND NOW FOR THE MAJOR REVELATION! 

surrender. you ever heard "sweet surrender" by tim buckley? one of his best, and & that's saying something. 

my quibbles with character flaws must cease; they profiteth me not and naught. in a real world, the way house works miracles would not be seen so much as reason to repel lawsuits as a drawing card for alumni donors. he'd have new yorker profiles and local headlines as "the doctor who saves lives...or people he can barely stand" and even have loveable curmudgeonly portraits painted by his patients on Live at Five. yup. 

[Foreman:] the formula! streetsmart kid who bootstrapped himself up & out and is now probably one step from clarence thomas in his view of that past. 
[Cameron:] Ms. straight-A, goody-two-shoes who was all-varsity field hockey captain while volunteering for meal-on-wheel for AIDS victims, has her mayfly romance/tragedy to give her preternatural wisdom beyond her tender years. 
[Chase:] Aussie dreamboat transfers his desire to aid the afflicted from god to darwin but still can't get over his (probable) jesuit training to accept an authority figure as the Last Word. that's yr. ducklings. 

as for Wilson and Cuddy? jury's still out. PS. comic relief with the masseuse--i may have actually laughed.

################################################################ 

As long as we're talking Darwin, have a stuffed monkey with a dildo

& about time too! is this the 1st time addiction gets mentioned? why now? because the Vicodin is late? how is it he doesn't keep a stash in his office for emergencies? 

In later episodes he does, can't remember which. A season or two later. It was played more as a joke than anything else. I'm not sure if this is the first time "addiction" is mentioned. House's habit is front and center but I can't remember if there's been any sort of conversation about it, other than his liking to pop pills in front of people whenever he can.

You also see, in this episode, that even though House is incredibly manipulative, Wilson is just as manipulative in his own way. After all, Cuddy presented the detox idea as hers, but it was Wilson's. Wilson believes House is an addict, so he has House put through this to "prove" Wilson's point. But it doesn't really "prove" anything except, as we talked about, that it makes it possible for House to function normally. 

i listen to the terminology and realize that i am going to have to spend more time at that polite dissent site. i lack basic vocabulary

Most viewers who aren't obsessed as I am--the majority, actually--have no idea what the doctors are talking about. That's one of the reasons for the Magic School Bus Cam. Have they had anyone go into anaphylactic shock yet? That's one of my favorites. The throat closing together like fast elevator doors. 

that's also the one caused by peanuts? maybe. i mean, I've seen a couple that they may have said it, but it goes by so fast when they get into those "trauma ward chase scenes", to coin a phrase. (Or not. for all i know that may be another of your clan's tropes.) 

i remember that one pharmoneuro(cologist?) you had who was reading your mood swings like flowcharts.  

That was when my psycho-pharmacologist had me in that study of bipolar women and their reproductive cycles. So truly a flow chart, hah. Since my lady parts came out of the factory broken, apparently my moods were never affected by my cycle. Life events, yes, menstruation, no.

Aussie dreamboat transfers his desire to aid the afflicted from god to darwin but still can't get over his (probable) jesuit training to accept an authority figure as the Last Word. 

Actually, Chase is a weaselly rich kid whose father made a phone call to get him on the team. Yes, his seminary training gets in the way, but Chase looks out for Chase, first and foremost. And his lips are super-glued to House's butt.

am i missing something or is that not a contradiction? "me first" but "House first"? 

Season 1, Episode 10, "Histories" - Another Quickie

Dr. Foreman believes an uncooperative homeless woman (Leslie Hope) is faking seizures to get a meal ticket at the hospital. But her situation strikes a chord with Dr. Wilson and he resolves to keep her from falling between the cracks. Meanwhile, House gets an audience of two medical students who are learning how to conduct medical histories.

omar gets to humanize hisself here and that's nice. this is about as commando as they can go, though. omar giving up his jacket to a bum for a look at her digs--AND HE DOESN'T EVEN WEAR PROTECTIVE GEAR? NOT EVEN RUBBER GLOVES? that's a BIIIG stretch. and house bribing the cop for the taser info? just shows to go you that the above assessment was right on the money. so this was also the watershed of the first death of the primary patient. kinda like L&O's 1st defendant win, i suspect.

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Usually they put on rubber gloves whenever they're inspecting somebody's place. Good catch! Was this the one with the comics? I really liked how they managed to put everything together (and also the party at the opening). I have to wrack my brains a bit to remember these episodes. I started watching in S4, but after that I got all of the DVD sets and watched them in order. That's why I've been looking at recaps to recall what I can, with a little help. As I recall, Foreman has a huge chip on his shoulder from escaping the streets and never believes anyone who might be on drugs, homeless, or generally down on their luck. 

House doesn't believe in the "right kind of people" deserving care; their lifestyles don't matter to him unless it has an impact on the case in some way. To be honest, I'm always happy when the patient dies. It's usually a surprise, unlike the patient surviving. Also, I liked the end, with House and Wilson sitting outside, silent. 

Cool! Now you get to see "Detox"! Can't wait to hear your thoughts on that one.

Season One, Episode 7: "Fidelity" (The First H/W Convo)

Description:

31-year-old Elyce Snow (Myndy Crist) sleeps eighteen hours a day, and is impossible to get along with the other six hours. House (Hugh Laurie) thinks it might be depression, but it isn't, nor is it rabbit fever (his second choice). Finally, House diagnoses African Sleeping Sickness--and since neither Elyce nor her husband Ed (Dominic Purcell) has ever been to Africa, the only other possibility is that one of them has been unfaithful. But neither husband nor wife will fess up...not even if their silence results in her quick demise!

finally he gets called a misanthrope! been waiting for a Moliere reference too, but maybe that's coming later? the xmas ep, though, did not have a scrooge ref which i thought might have come up. but then we find House doesn't hate xmas as much as one might think. having him play the piano of "have yourself a merry little xmas" was perfectly in keeping, then, with what you told me. only mel torme could offer us alienated urbans a token to the lonely-but-sweet innocence it is possible to discover when you use memories of childhood as this occasion's spiritual center, to realize that the happy family was, of course, a lie.

fave line: "check for poison apples too. when there's this much sleeping i'd check for a wicked stepmother." 

OK. the title tells us that it is going to be about intra-familial relations exclusivity. right. which then opens the door for a bit of discussion about the outside thang going on. but it is confined to the case, primarily, far as i remember. now we begin to see a house/wilson relationship at all with his 1st consult--and not just on the gal with the implants. so you're going to tell me that homosexual males would enjoy the prospect of a gaze at enormous knockers? personally, i can't think of any in my acquaintance who would. and the fact that wilson is married doesn't help. 

BUT, MAYBE the subtext of the kidding around wilson gets for wearing a new tie and taking a nurse to lunch? i don't get a jealous vibe here. the idea that comes to me is if these guys were on some kind of down-low, the banter would be much more two-sided rather than house being the pitcher and wilson the catcher. i'm not saying "oh mary" or such, but like the African American bi-cultural thang of the down-low: sex as recreation, not anything emotional. 

(at least, that's according to the Village Voice description of the phenomena...)

Um...ever heard of bisexual? Although I don't know if the characters are in fact bisexual, it's a fun fantasy to entertain. My personal opinion is that House is omni sexual and Wilson is a closeted bi. I mean, three failed marriages? But then, is that information not revealed yet? Not that it's a big reveal, by you can see that Wilson prefers hanging with House than hanging with his wife(s). Although I kinda think Wilson would fuck mud in the absence of a suitable orifice. 

Quite a few of my therapist friend's male clients (who are mainly minorities) do the down low, but insist they're straight. You should know that last season they did an episode on House and Wilson called "The Down Low."

And the jealousy thing comes much more into play in later seasons. I keep trying not to give away too much, mingled with utter disbelief that you're doing this.

One hideous side-effect of being a House/Wilson fan (or Hilsons as the portmanteau name freaks would have it) is all of these home-made videos on YouTube about their doomed or not doomed love are made with THE EXACT SAME CLIPS SO THEY BURN INTO YOUR MIND FOREVER! I'd point one or two out, but then again, same problem as above. 

House/Wilson vids--say what?

 Go to Youtube. Type in "House Wilson" or "Hilson" but maybe you don't want to because there are two many reveals from later seasons. Also clips edited to suggest sexual passion when in fact they're not. The shot where Wilson is standing in the doorway is one used over and over and over again.



 Video by clovermedia

Hey, it's all looking for tiny clues for us obsessed House/Wilson fans. It was only in Season 2 that they found what "popped" (in the writers' terms) for the relationship. I glanced at the televisionwithoutpity.com recap to try to remember more about the ep, and the recapper wrote, regarding the woman she calls Boobs: 

Wilson isn't as impressed with the preschool teacher's set as House was. I guess he's not a Tits 'N Ass man. He always struck me as more of a Beard 'N Limp guy anyway. 

seems like this view is pervasive.  

Your backstory is waaay ahead of me. 

so far, we've learned that the black guy had a sealed juvie record, chase was a seminary student, the cute F asst had a fairytale marriage end in a snap, and wilson had a brother who went schizo/homeless.

OK. bisexual. right. they are both bisexual? that's a stretch, but then again so are anal cavities, in these situations. how do you know house isn't A-sexual? i suppose that's in the "more will be revealed" portion? 

Not that it's a big reveal, by you can see that Wilson prefers hanging with House than hanging with his wife(s). Although I kinda think Wilson would fuck mud in the absence of a suitable orifice. 

no. i tried it. or rather, sand. unfortunate decision.

Season 1, Episode 6: "The Socratic Method"

Part One

this sounds pretty cool: ask questions until the thing-itself gives answers. the point that gets misunderstood today is that you have to ask the RIGHT questions. talking heads who think they're reporters think they're being probing when they phrase a question as "some people say" or "informed sources have it" or "it has been said" because a talking point has gotten a headline or some blogosphere nut has been quoted on fox, when they are really deflecting the probe into another area that is non-productive (to the discussion) or entirely self-serving (to them having a trenchant retort to end a segment).

but housearbeit?--he always ask questions; that's his job, what makes him good. because he goes after the edges, inconsistencies, aberrations. that's where science has more "huh?" moments than "aha!" moments, and that's what lead to breakthroughs. he always questions "the disease", as if it were an uninvited guest he has to figure out how to make at home.   

not much else to say about the ep. couldn't quite figure it out. the ending i mean. vague. the woman was FAKING it? pretending to be schizo so her son would be taken away and not have to deal with her death-by-tumor? so how did we get the voice-overs of multiple personality disorder? what did i miss? i could rewatch it, but thought you might remember.

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As I recall, it wasn't that the woman was faking being schizo.  It was the son's attempt to take care of her that was pushing whatever disease it was    into overdrive, plus whatever meds she was on.  (If you remember me ten years ago, you have a walking, talking example of what the wrong meds can do to you.)  

 
Hearing voices is not a sign of multiple personality disorder; it is a symptom of being psychotic.  I've spent enough time hanging around the halls of New York City's mental health system to know the difference.  In fact, I've never actually met anyone with multiple personality disorder, unless they managed to maintain the same personality during the duration.

Here's a quote from the recap from televisionwithoutpity.com: I couldn't quite remember, except that the son's over-controlling ways was part of why his mother was so fucked up:

Friedman grits that he's never thanking House, because House turned Friedman in. That is so much more important in the grand scheme of things than the fact that House saved his mom from the copper prison of her mind, and also from DYING AT AGE THIRTY-EIGHT. SHUT IT, Friedman. Friedman's mom just shifts uncomfortably until House rescues her, saying he just wanted Friedman out of his life: "That's why I had Doctor Cuddy call Social Services." Ha! The elevator reaches its destination, and Friedman wheels his mother away. 

This was a fun recap because it was written by someone who didn't know and didn't like the show. 

I think House called Social Services, just to keep the brat out of his hair.  I'm not sure why they let the kid back into her life, and always wondered if she went into an epic downward spiral afterwards.

no. it was the mother who dropped the dime on the kid. house was simply trying to live up to his role as healer; he's not after credit or  thanks--just wants the patient out of his life ASAP because THAT'S  WHAT HE'S SUPPOSED TO DO! he gave him the gift of hate. hate is a very  powerful focusing mechanism, as shirley maclaine says to dean martin at the end of "what a way to go!", or as michelle bachman says every  night to her mirror.

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Part Two: Who Do You Love?

In this season, I think the creators were going for the whole sexual romantic tension thing with Cameron.  I don't want to give too much away, but suffice to say it didn't happen.  There are still crazed fans out there who haven't gotten over it.  Inadvertently it happened with Wilson, in my opinion.  The guy who recapped the last two or three episodes from this period kept making observations about how gay they were, and I know the two actors enjoyed playing the hell out of the subtext, just to annoy Fox's censors.

Chase became the doctor who could perform almost ANY surgery known to God or Man.  I have a soft spot for him in those early seasons because I like little boys, and those rosy lips and blond hair do something to me.  Not necessarily a healthy something.  Also, particularly in this season, he's a weasel who will kiss House's ass so much he practically gets dragged around by his lips.

 

OK. but now i find out [last ep] that this is a TEACHING HOSPITAL, or  did i misconstrue some remark? sort of stands to reason, then, that  MAYBE dr house might want them to run their own tests to see what  might go wrong? this isn't an apologia--bytheby--as much as a  plausible alternative view that fits in with an approach to medicine.

it's called Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital (or PPTH for short), and House is kicking their asses both for his own amusement but also to teach, not just medicine, but various life skills.  That last sentence was so lame I'm ashamed of myself. everything  house does RIGHT is usually only after he, or the others, do something WRONG. you can't make an intern without breaking ovum.

  

OK. the pretty boy is chase? so how come no one tells him he's a dead  ringer for the dish on GH? i mean, house himself commented on the F  asst's 1st class assets [and she is cute, but not porn star cute]; how  come nobody else notices this guy? no reason on earth he shouldn't be  boffing candystripers by the gurneyload.  or would that spoil your relationship with him?

No, I'm willing to share.  My favorite duckling is Foreman (the black guy), just because.  I don't have the hots for him, I just like the actor and the character.  Any complaints I have will have to wait until later on.  

Dr. Foreman is judging you. Harshly.

Jesse Spencer auditioned but didn't get a callback.  But he wanted the part so badly he flew back to LA from Australia on his own dime and auditioned again.  At first the character was going to be an American playboy, but they let Spencer be Australian.  Since Hugh Laurie is British and has to act with an American accent (he's likened it to "having a pebble in his shoe" in regard to his acting), there's a certain amount of envy there.

 

Season One, Episodes 3 & 4: Occam's Razor and Maternity

Description:(Occam's Razor)

After calling in sick at work, 22-year-old college student Brandon (Kevin Zegers) spends the morning having wild sex with his fiancee--and then lapses into unconsciousness. It's obvious to Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) that Brandon wasn't lying about being sick, but his symptoms are mysterious and contradictory--and worse, they keep multiplying. As he tries to figure out this puzzle, House saves time by treating all of his other patients in a record five minutes.

this is a gimme. Occam's Razor  first became popularized via the jodie foster film "contact" from the book by carl sagan. since then, it has become the 'go-to' concept used by everyone as shorthand for critical thinking, and because it sounds sooo cool...which is part and parcel of the essence of this particular episode: teenage sex! yes, starts off with a bang! and why? so the cute F asst. can tease the cute M asst. with saucy asides as she thrust out her prodigious headlamps at him in the lounge. and, as well, the whole 'defiance-in-the-face-of-authority' thang gets the patient a full body scan and medical just because house identifies with her attitude. see? it pays to be cool!

ok. i'll bite. who IS Wilson? seems to be an administrator who's always around but doesn't work for the uber-she. 
 

Description:  Maternity

After checking on two neonatal infants who have suffered mysterious seizures, House (Hugh Laurie) concludes that the clinic has become the breeding ground for a deadly epidemic--which is rapidly spreading to the other newborns. In order to isolate the reason for this outbreak and to stop it in its tracks, House is faced with a difficult choice: One of the babies will have to die to save the others. As it turns out, the source of the epidemic has little to do with babies, but neither House nor the audience finds this out until the very last moment

Maternity. you know, when i think about the Paternity episode, i think it really ought to have been called, Parenting, because it didn't have anything to do with a paternity suit and the fact that the kid was adopted makes it more about a 'family matter' than anything having to do with who was the sire and who was the dam...and who is the parasite. which may have been the major point of this ep, as house gets to show his contempt for children as well. as for the treatment? no way. never in 1000yrs. this is the stuff that trial lawyers' dreams are made of. sorry, uh-uh. violates credibility

House agrees: everything is better with bacon!

so, why is he in the maternity lounge? to watch the TV? he doesn't seem to mind watching his portable, so why would he change his habits? as you know, habits aren't hard to break, they're fucking impossible to break--they can only be substituted for or curbed, but only with FULL SELF-KNOWLEDGE! and he doesn't ever make a comment that his M asst., the blonde guy, is a dead ringer for the one on GH?

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Wow,  you're getting obsessed!  I STILL cannot believe you are watching every episode of this show from the beginning.  Once you burn out, I'll give you a list of the particularly good episodes.  Bear in mind that in the first season they're still working out the kinks.

Remember, this is television, not reality, so there's a lot of shorthand.  Also, the titles usually mean several different levels (maybe not Occam's Razor, but it became standard later on and gave the analysis monkeys something to dissect).  The reality is that a real hospital would NEVER keep a doctor like House for more than three weeks. But this character is the springboard for 1,000 snarky main characters. Check out:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/House

This site...well, you have to see for yourself.  I think you will really, really like it and not just because of the show. The beginning of the shows are called "teasers" for a reason.  Last season and this season have had overreaching teasers that strain credulity to the breaking point.  What's a gimme?

 catchall for 'been-there/done that' etc. simply that any episode with that title is going to be a cultural hitchhike upon the fender skirts of greater minds...

Wilson's character didn't really come together until Season Two.  He's the head of oncology but who seems to have plenty of time to hang around House and his crew.  Last season they did an episode called "Wilson" in which they explored his day, more or less.  The parts involving House's team was pretty funny, because you saw how completely insane it looks from the outside.  Wilson both works for the uber-she, but also conspires with her to control House.

so, why is he in the maternity lounge? to watch the tv? he doesn't
seem to mind watching his portable, so why would he change his habits?
as you know, habits aren't hard to break, they're fucking impossible
to break--they can only be substituted for or curbed, but only with
FULL SELF-KNOWLEDGE!

House will do ANYTHING to keep from being bored.  Everything is a substitute for his basic addiction: medicine.  Without medicine he is nothing.  Well, he's a drug addict, too.  Pills, video games, television...as for the latter, House watches it all over the hospital as long as he can be left alone.  Mostly in the wing where the coma patients are.  For the medical, etc., you should check a great site, "Polite Dissent," in which a doctor analyzes the medicine in each episode. There are several doctors on the staff, but still, the show plays fast and loose.  This show in some ways is as formulaic as "Law And Order"; patient shows up, the staff nearly kills him a few times before finding the disease--although sometimes they die. 

no way. never in 1000yrs. this is the stuff that trial lawyers' dreams are made of. sorry, uh-uh. violates credibility 

As I wrote earlier, in real life House would never sustain employment.  But this is a tv show called "House, MD," so...

right. answers the above. understood. this is "medical lite" like law&order is "legal lite". so the idea is to ignore the contrivances [after all, this is listed as a mystery] and concentrate on adapting the acerbic comments to any public discourse i might engage in, yes?

Season One, Episode Two: "Paternity"

Synopsis: Suffering from double vision and horrible nightmares, 16-year-old Dan (Scott Mechlowitz) traces the source of his problem to injuries sustained during a Lacrosse match. As usual, Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) has other ideas, first diagnosing Dan with MS, and then declaring that the boy is being sexually abused. By the time House has figured out the real reason (maybe!) and has scheduled Dan for brain surgery, the boy disappears from the clinic--and the chase is on.


I like the use of the word "fungible". don't know if it applies, but it is one of those words that makes a conversation smarter, if frequently less clear.

ok. already i have a continuity problem. likes to sit up with feet on desk. fine. bad leg, makes sense. HOWEVER!--UNLESS THOSE SHOES ARE BRAND NEW EVERY EPISODE (and given his personality, the likelihood of him popping butter down on fresh kicks is remote) THEY DO NOT REFLECT A PATTERN OF PROPER WEAR FOR A MAN WHO FAVORS ONE LEG! (i know: how many times have you heard THAT before?)

"Stupid to have two 'I's in a mnemonic."--really great aside on "MIDNITE" acronym.

off the top, by now i am wondering what they do about malpractice insurance there. this touches on that briefly. never really thought of pain as pornographic, but then again, orgasm and invasive procedures--with the proper close-up of delicate, star-quality features--are interchangeable  this is the one where he ends up caring and watching the kid on the lacrosse field as rickie lee jones tears your heart out with piano keys. ok. so he cares. well, why not? as said above, certain things are interchangeable and do not differentiate unless described in greater detail. so then, his nonchalant, devil-may-care attitude is merely a mask so that his imperturbable calm in life-or-death situations, and cold, calculated rationalism holds sway when all others might have concerns beyond the immediate solution? yes, we like that. yes, we want to be manipulated, wrung out like a hankie after an ocean of tears. or by someone with their hand down our pants.

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Oh my god, are you going to watch ALL of the episodes???  In Season 1 the show was finding its feet, so to speak.  House's sneaker obsession is repeatedly referred to (that, and close-ups of grody used shoes aren't sexy).  At one point he says to (I think) his ex is, "I'm gay.  It fits.  Obsession with sneakers, always with Wilson..."

Also, later on there are numerous references to the hospital having a large budget simply for House's malpractice suits.  Robert Sean Leonard in an early interview said, "House is designed to be attractive." There's the whole tormented genius thing, repressed inner pain (remember Spock's meltdowns and much fans loved them?  Neither do I).

However, this show has a lot of continuity/believability problems.  Like the fact that the doctors do everything nurses, aides, etc. do.  It's to give the cast more to do and cut down on casting costs.  There is a real nurse, Bobbin Bergstrom, who is the ONLY person besides Hugh Laurie to be in every single episode.  She's there to help the actors make what they do look right.

this is the one where he ends up caring and watching the kid on the lacrosse field as rickie lee jones tears your heart out with piano keys.

That's the kind of ending they stopped using (thank God) in favor of more depressing endings.

 

Robert Sean Leonard Agrees: Everything Is Better With Bacon!

My Overview of Seasons 1 Through 7 of House MD - The Best Episodes

January, 2011

Dear Carle -

Thanks for your exploration of my obsession.  Actually, the show's creators were up front about creating the characters based on Holmes and Watson (House and Wilson).  However, the show ended up diverging from the formula in that his team became his Watson.  I like the original team the best--they were the team for the first three seasons. The original premise was "a doctor who hates his patients."

Speaking of Holmes, there was one season finale that had House shot by a patient who never had a name, but his name in the script was Moriarty.

A large part of my obsession comes from identifying strongly with House, particularly during those periods when I am forced to walk with a cane.  And also downing large quantities of pills.  House is easily bored, and yes, retreats into drugs, booze and music (Hugh Laurie is a practiced musician so they wrote that in).  If I had to pick one episode from the first season to watch, it would be "Three Histories." It's brilliantly done and tells House's back story.

Season 2 has an amazing amount of good episodes.  My absolute favorite (you won't have to guess why) is "House Vs. God" Ep. 19 or so. "Autopsy" is also great; based on the idea of doing an autopsy on a living person. The other episode from Season 2 is "All In," which uses a swanky hospital do as a background.

You'll note that while there is some sexual tension between House and Cameron (his employee) and Cuddy (his boss), there is also a strong homoerotic tension between House and Wilson.  The writers have played around with this concept ever since Season 2.  That is the aspect that has caught my heart, like any pre sexual fan girl.

From Season 3, my favorite episode that can be taken out of context is Ep. 9, "Informed Consent", co-starring Joel Grey.  He is incredible, as is the entire episode.

Finally, the episodes that got me hooked in the first place: the Season Four two-part finale "House's Head/Wilson's Heart." You'll notice some cast changes, because at the end of Season Three all of the regular team (Foreman, Chase, Cameron) left and House formed a new team.  Foreman came back to work for House, while Chase and Cameron worked in different areas of the hospital.

These are some of my favorite episodes, and I would guess the ones that reveal the most about myself.

Last season (#6) House kicked Vicodin and became a "nicer" person, which means considerably less interesting.  Suddenly he was madly in love with Cuddy for twenty years  (the earlier premise for the first five seasons was they had a one-night stand in college) and at the end--literally THE LAST FIVE MINUTES OF THE SEASON FINALE--she showed up, declaring her everlasting love.

This season (#7) shows them in their relationship.  The "Patient Of The Week" is now a throwaway part of the episode so we can concentrate on the soap opera of the characters' lives.  House is now happy happy happy, and I can only hope that somebody important dies.

 Season 7, Episode 1 "Now What".

Oh, and as for realism, he was drinking while he was on Vicodin, he kept drinking after he was off of it, was drinking until he blacked out at the end of last season (his therapist didn't seem particularly perturbed) and is happily drinking like a normal person now.  There's a lot of other things I could rant about--the show's treatment of mental illness is, pardon the pun, crazy-making.